This invention relates to improved display packages or containers for fragile articles of merchandise, such as liquid-containing decanters, bottles, and the like, produced from flat blanks of rigid corrugated or chip board. This invention is particularly concerned with providing a shadow box type of container for use in holding and displaying items such as cosmetics, perfumes, hardware, wine, etc., in such a manner that retention of the item is accomplished by the friction between its surface and the surface of the container medium, the spring action of the shadow panels against the surfaces of the item, and the support of the item by tab means hinged to back panels of the container. The tab means simultaneously lock the container in erected position and support the item held therewithin to thereby protect the item from damage caused by shock and vibration.
Currently, some fragile items are packaged in cartons that provide protection by means of an interior liner, often made of a foamed plastic material, wherein the plastic liner is cut out in the shape of the item to be held. The item housed in this plastic liner is then inserted into a standard paperboard carton. Other fragile items which are packaged in paperboard containers require the use of additional panels added to the blank, or inserts which occupy the free space between the container body and the article to be packaged. Both of these approaches are not totally adequate. The first approach is expensive and adds extra steps in the packaging of the item. The second approach also requires an additional hand operation in the packaging of the finished item.
Packages which display the article of merchandise contained therewithin are well-known in the art. See, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,700,456; 2,946,433; and 3,576,253. U.S. Pat. No. 3,576,253 also illustrates the common practice of adding inserts to securely hold the article of merchandise. Shock-absorbing paperboard packages are also known. See, in this connection, U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,481,453 and 3,741,380. None of the containers described in these references however, discloses a shadow box type of container, that is constructed from a single blank and that not only provides good visual display of the packaged item, but provides means for simultaneously locking the container in erected position and supporting the article of merchandise contained therewithin in a manner that protects it from damage caused by shock or vibration.